Ceiling painting in the throne room of King August II in the Dresden residential palace
The ceiling painting in the throne room of King August II in the Dresden Residenzschloss was created by Louis de Silvestre in 1719 . It was an “allegory of the wise government of the House of Wettin” and, in accordance with the express command of the king, it was painted on canvas so that if the ceiling of the hall had to be demolished, the canvas could be used for other purposes. Signature and date are: 1719 Silvestre pinxit .
description
Gustav Otto Müller describes it as follows:
“The same, in the old throne room, represents time as it, surrounded by justice, strength and wisdom, reveals the truth; The genius of fame and eternity float above these allegorical figures. In the foreground Hercules fights slander, envy and anger and is supported by a little genius who holds a scepter and a shield with the Polish-Saxon coat of arms. On the attribute of defamation, a bellows, it says: 1719. Silvestre pinxit. "
Gurlitt describes the picture in the inventory of Saxon architectural and cultural monuments:
“The ceiling painting. This depicts Hercules pushing the three trucks to the ground. The virtues are enthroned above him. Wisdom with a mirror and helmet, truth, naked, with a shining sun, the time as Saturn with a scythe, strength with sword and lion, justice with scales and sword. About these two lying geniuses. The picture is strong in color, bold in the foreshortening, a little heavy for the room in the treatment of the clouds. "
For Harald Marx it is certain that Gurlitt could not have known either Silvestre's authorship or the date, as he does not mention it. The subject of the picture is the "apotheosis of the wise government of the House of Wettin". In this painting, Silvestre wanted to represent an "ideal political conception" with the group of figures consisting of Genius, Eris and Hercules . The genius, protected by an oval shield with the Saxon-Polish coat of arms, invades Eris, the goddess of slander, discord and anger, with his scepter raised. Eris had previously been defeated by Hercules. These ancient gods were supposed to elevate August the Strong and his deeds into a "mystical sphere". The house of Wettin (Hercules) conquers discord, slander and hatred (Goddess) so that wisdom, truth, justice and strength (genius with scepter) prevail. Thus the Roman antiquity becomes an instrument of "consciousness building in the absolutistic sense". The motif goes back to a painting by Bon Boullogne, the son of Louis Boullogne and Silvestre's teacher.
Dezallier d'Argensville describes this picture in the Paris Palais de Justice:
“On the ceiling of the second chamber of the Requêtes [petitions] in the palace, where the complaints are handed over to the first instance: justice, accompanied by strength and temperance, and Hercules, who drives away slander and discord. Above you can see three deities who distribute crowns to encourage the arts. "
Destruction and recast
The ceiling painting was destroyed on February 13, 1945 together with the castle rooms. While inventory equipment of the rooms could be saved from destruction by outsourcing, this was not possible for the pictorial representations. That is why the ceiling paintings were reconstructed from the old photos in 2016/18 when the parade rooms were set up in the Dresden Residenzschloss . In this new version, they have again been part of the tangible rooms on the 2nd floor of the Dresden Palace since September 2019.
literature
- Harald Marx: On decorative painting of the 18th century in Saxony , art history dissertation. Halle / Saale 1971, pp. 65–70. (Chapter: The ceiling paintings for the bedroom and throne room of the Dresden Residenzschloss )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Figures 3/4. In: Harald Marx: The paintings of Louis de Silvestre. State Art Collections Dresden, Dresden 1975.
- ↑ a b c d e Harald Marx: The paintings of Louis de Silvestre. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden 1975, p. 34.
- ^ Gustav Otto Müller: Forgotten and half-forgotten Dresden artists of the last century. Hoffmann, Dresden 1895, p. 143.
- ↑ Cornelius Gurtlitt (arrangement): Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. With the participation of the K. Sächsischen Alterthumsverein. Published by the K. Saxon Ministry of the Interior. Issue 22, Meinhold and Sons, Dresden 1901, p. 382.
- ↑ Anton Joseph Dezallier d'Argensville: The life of the most famous painters with a few notes on their character, the display of their most distinguished works and instructions for knowing the drawings and paintings of great masters. Fourth part. By the painters of the French School. , 4 parts. German edition. Dyckische Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1768, part 4, p. 329.